Hanukkah Lights

Hanukkah Lights is a collection of stories taken from Hanukkah Lights, a holiday program on National Public Radio every year (and it comes with a CD so you can listen to 4 extra stories). Mark Helprin's story, "Hanukkah in the Age of Guys and Dolls" was my favorite. It begins with funny anecdotes from his childhood, when he disliked the one-upmanship of holidays in general, and ends with his reconciliation with and understanding of Hanukkah, in 1972 or 73 when Helprin was in the Israeli army and spent a night watching bonfires go up across the Beit Shan Valley and in the mountains above.

There are also stories by Elie Wiesel, Myra Goldberg, and Daniel Pinkwater (author of one of my childhood favorites, The Hoboken Chicken Emergency) to mention only a few. The back of the book calls it "perfect for family reading" and they are quite short, so you won't tire your voice out.